John B. Anderson

John Bayard Anderson (15 February 1922-3 December 2017) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Illinois' 16th district (R) from 3 January 1961 to 3 January 1981, succeeding Leo E. Allen and preceding Lynn Morley Martin. Anderson ran for President of the United States in 1980 as an independent candidate, and he had the support of Rockefeller Republicans and liberal intellectuals; he won 6.6% of the popular vote.

Biography
John Bayard Anderson was born in Rockford, Illinois on 15 February 1922, and he practiced law after serving in the US Army during World War II. After serving in the Foreign Service, he became the State Attorney for Winnebago County, Illinois, and he was elected to the US House of Representatives from Illinois' 16th district in 1960 as a Rockefeller Republican. He was initially one of the most conservative members of the House, but his social views moderated during the 1960s, and he strongly criticized the Vietnam War and President Richard Nixon's actions during the Watergate scandal. In 1980, he ran for President of the United States, and he advocated increasing the gas tax while cutting social security taxes. He won support among Rockefeller Republicans, independents, liberal intellectuals, and college students, and he placed third behind Republican Party nominee Ronald Reagan and Democratic Party nominee Jimmy Carter, winning 6.6% of the popular vote. After the election, he founded the electoral reform advocacy group FairVote, and he later became a visiting professor at several universities. He endorsed Ralph Nader in 2000, and he died in Washington DC in 2017.